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by estrellaaa



Category: Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, modern reincarnation au!!, this is like my best thing in a while ngl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-13 05:32:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19244833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/estrellaaa/pseuds/estrellaaa
Summary: being a teenager is hard enough, but mixing in strange visions and flashbacks to pasts you've never lived and the toxic environment of a conservative town is a recipe for disaster.





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It was a perfectly ordinary day in the life of Romeo Moore. He sped through his morning routine, sliding on some dark blue Converse from the closet, snagging a granola bar from the pantry, and running out the door, nearly missing the bus. He had grown used to it, and so had Maddie.

“You’re 28 seconds early,” she giggled, looking down at her amethyst watch and sniggering. “Impressive.”

“Lay off, Madds,” he groaned, unwrapping the granola bar he had grabbed blindly. It was chocolate chip, his least favorite. He reluctantly took a bite, chewing deliberately. He nearly choked when the bus began its journey, throwing him headfirst into the seat in front of him. Maddie had to dig her knees into the seat back to avoid the same fate. Normally, she would have laughed at him, but she was too preoccupied with her own situation to notice.

The bus ride passed fairly quickly, considering that Romeo’s stop was the last one before school. They arrived at the above-capacity Montoya Middle School and headed to their lockers. The jammed halls were the perfect setting for a fight to occur. The two maneuvered through the halls, Romeo trying to avoid his enemies and Maddie trying to keep him away from his latest popular crush, Rosa. What they didn’t expect was to run into Tyler Beynart, the sworn nemesis of all things likable. He trapped them against the corner at the end of a row of lockers and ignored the early bell’s shrill ring. The students walking by seemed oblivious to the scenario in front of them.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, freak-face and weird-wig?” Tyler spat, glancing at Romeo’s face on the first remark and Maddie’s wild hair on the second. Romeo did have to admit that Maddie’s hair was unique, from the short half with two stripes shaved in and the longer area that reached past her shoulders. But it certainly didn’t warrant being called “weird-wig.” As for the freak-face remark, Tyler must have made that up on the fly- Romeo thought he had a perfectly average facial structure.

Romeo was about to begin making up some equally offensive retort when Maddie stepped in front of him, fuming. “To what do I owe this pleasure, Tyler?” she countered. “You know I’d never not jump at an opportunity to beat you up.”

At this remark, Romeo backed up a bit. He wasn’t attempting to stoke the fire or encourage fighting, but he sure as hell was not getting involved in it. As much as he loved Maddie (platonically), she was more of a fighter than a lover, and it showed.

Tyler took the first swing at Maddie, directing the blow at her face. Luckily, she dodged, nearly knocking Romeo down in the process. She immediately fought back, kicking Tyler hard in the knee. He stumbled, falling into the passerby. Once he got back up, he raised his hand to slap her, only to be interrupted by another student.

“Hello there,” they began, glancing nervously between Tyler and Maddie. “I know that I don’t know anything about why you’re fighting, but I don’t think it’s worth getting suspended or hurt. Okay?”

Romeo, Tyler, and Maddie all stared in shock at the girl, who also seemed confused. Tyler, after hearing the late bell ring, ran off to homeroom. Romeo and Maddie shot the girl a smile and a glare before walking off. The girl just stood there, frozen.

“What was that?” she thought to herself. She clenched a fist and then let each finger uncurl itself, trying to get a grasp on the situation. Out of nowhere, a figure appeared next to her. He had cropped blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and an overall angular and pale appearance. He was wearing a navy blue coat that reached his shins, a blue dress shirt, and black pants, along with shin-height leather boots. Naturally, the girl was horrified and had to stifle a shriek.

“Who the hell are you?” she murmured, backing into a row of lockers. “It is the year of our Lord 2018 and you are dressed up like you’re in the 1500s or something!”

“I suppose this would be very difficult to explain…” the man murmured. “Well, you can refer to me as Benvolio Montague, and there was a square happening, so I had decided to cease it.”

“Wait- did you say Montague??” she whisper-shouted. “Like that dude in the play?”

“Play? That does not make sense, but yes, I said Montague,” Benvolio explained, speaking slowly and carefully. “You see… you just broke up that fight, didn’t you? You were confused about why you did that. Now, please don’t freak out, and this will sound crazy, but that wasn’t you doing it. I did it in your place… You don’t know these kids, but I do. Sort of. It’s best to keep them apart if they fight again, alright?”

Benvolio was expecting a more panicked reaction than how the girl reacted. She just raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “What are you going on about? You look like some founding father.”

“Who now?” Benvolio responded. “Anyway, it’s really hard to explain, but we’re… the same person? I died many, many years ago, but you brought me back, and it’s the same with your friends.”

The girl just stood there, eyes wide before taking off, bookbag clutched in small hands and navy flats with a popsicle pattern slapping the ground on her way to class.

Lunch came quickly and with it the best part of Romeo and Maddie’s day. They had a full half hour to eat junk they had bought from the vending machine and talk about whatever came to mind. They had both finished woodshop and were chatting at the vending machine when a familiar face rushed up to them, platinum blonde hair sticking in all directions and face flushed. They quickly recognized her as the girl from earlier.

“You’re that kid who tried to stop me and Tyler. You don’t know what we were talking about, and I was going to win anyway,” Maddie explained. “You need to learn to watch your back and your mouth.”

The girl didn’t seem at all flustered by Maddie’s threat. “We need to talk. It’s really important. Like, life-changing-ly important. Get your food and meet me at your regular spot,” she spoke urgently, walking off to the larger cafeteria area.

“I don’t trust her, Romeo,” Maddie muttered, attempting to keep secretive. “Where are we gonna sit? She’s gonna be there.”

“I think we should hear her out, Maddelyn,” Romeo said harshly, eyes like daggers into Maddie’s own. “She seems trustworthy enough, and besides, what do we have to lose?” Maddie frowned at the use of her full name.

“Fine, fine,” she whined. “But if I find out she’s in with Tyler I’m kicking her ass halfway to Verona.”

“Fair enough,” Romeo murmured, pivoting to walk into the cafeteria. “Are you coming?”

Maddie groaned, grabbing her usual snacks before following her confidant to lunch, reluctantly taking a seat next to the girl.

“So what is so ‘life-changing-ly important’ that you had to disturb our lunch to talk about it?” Maddie retorted, staring deeply into the girl’s eyes while taking a sip of her Grape Fanta.

"This might sound completely insane, but... have you ever felt like you're not completely yourself? That someone else is controlling your decisions?" she asked, gesturing wildly with her hands.

"You mean...you're possessed?" Romeo teased, followed by Maddie's laugh of approval. 

"What? No! I'll try differently... do you guys have memories of a life that doesn't feel yours? Déjà vu-s that point to something you couldn't have ever experienced? At least, not in this life?" The girl hoped her previous self was right. That these guys really are like her.

Maddie had an unbelieving grin on her face, Frito crumbs laced under her braces wire, and looked at Romeo to back her up. However, the boy was serious. He thought about this. He lifted his gaze right at the girl and started speaking.

“Y-you know, sometimes I feel like… like there’s something burning me… from the inside out. Like, like it’s poison, and I c-can do nothing about it…” Romeo muttered, looking down and seeming ashamed. “I, I just want it to stop but… it w-won’t!”

Maddie turned to him, face dark with concern. “Dude, why didn’t you tell me anything? Jesus Christ, Romeo, what the hell?”

“I thought you’d call me crazy! Just look at how you reacted to poor… uh…” Romeo gestured to the girl, receiving only a raised eyebrow in response. “Name?” he quickly added.

“Umm,” she mumbled. “You guys can call me… Beni,” she decided.

“Just look at how you reacted to poor Beni!” Romeo finished, leaning a bit over the table to stare into Maddie’s eyes and sipping his Crush in the same fashion as the latter did earlier.

“Romeo, you know that’s ridi-” Maddie began, only to be interrupted by none other than the blonde next to him.

“Don’t even start,” Beni interjected. “You know darn well you’d be the same with him.” She was able to finish her sentence, but directly after, Maddie began laughing. And Maddie’s laugh was a laugh of horror. It was like the cackle of a hyena from The Lion King. Beni’s face contorted into one of shock, while Romeo watched, mildly amused.

“All… intimidating laughs aside, we ought to figure this out. Meet me in the alcove behind the bowling alley at midnight,” Beni explained. “God be with- I mean…” she paused, internally screaming at Benvolio. “Good luck.”


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